Daily industrial news and top headlines for plant and maintenance managers

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sharp U.S. criticism of China's human rights record overshadowed the results achieved at annual high-level meetings between the world's two largest economies aimed at resolving disputes over trade and foreign policy.
After two days of talks, the two sides announced a range of modest agreements aimed at increasing sales opportunities for U.

SHANGHAI (AP) — Auto sales edged lower in China in April, the first such decline in over two years, as dealers were dealt a double whammy from weakening demand and the spillover from Japan's earthquake disaster.
Automakers delivered 1.55 million vehicles to buyers in April, down 0.25 percent from a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said in a statement seen Wednesday on its website.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California company and two of its executives were convicted Tuesday of conspiracy charges for bribing government officials at Mexico's state-owned utility in exchange for obtaining lucrative contracts.
A federal jury found Keith Lindsey, president of Lindsey Manufacturing Co.

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota's quarterly profit crumpled more than 75 percent after the March earthquake and tsunami wiped out parts suppliers in northeastern Japan, severely disrupting car production.
The maker of the popular Prius hybrid gave no forecast for the current fiscal year through March 2012, citing an uncertain outlook because production continues to be hampered by shortages of parts.

DALLAS (AP) — The largest U.S. milk producer, Dean Foods Co., said Tuesday that maintaining and raising its prices and expanding to new markets will help it fight falling milk sales and rising costs and meet its brightened earnings forecasts for the rest of the year.
Dean Foods, which cut 600 jobs and reduced other costs during the first quarter, said its net income for the period slid 41 percent from a year earlier.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale companies increased their stockpiles for the 15th straight month in March, a sign they expect future sales gains.
Supply levels at warehouses rose 1.1 percent in March, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Sales among wholesalers increased 2.9 percent and have risen in eight of the last nine months.

Torrance, Calif. — Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. (TMS) today celebrated the opening of the first hydrogen fueling station in the U.S. fed directly from an active industrial hydrogen pipeline. The station is a collaborative effort between Toyota, Air Products, Shell, South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the Department of Energy (DOE).

TOLEDO, Ohio — General Motors Co. announced Tuesday it will invest about $2 billion in U.S. assembly and component plants, creating or preserving more than 4,000 jobs at 17 facilities in eight states.
"We are doing this because we are confident about demand for our vehicles and the economy," GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson said during an event at the 54-year-old Toledo Transmission Plant.

LINCOLN, Ala. (AP) — Honda Motor Co. Ltd. plans to invest $97 million in its auto assembly plant in Lincoln, creating 20 jobs.
The Talladega County Commission voted Monday night to approve the tax abatements for the project, which is expected to be completed in late 2012. The project comes as Honda prepares to add production of the Acura MDX luxury sports utility vehicle to its assembly lines.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A longtime friend to a Campbell Soup heiress admits she tried to extort the Pennsylvania billionaire in an email titled "When the Soup Boils."
Agnes O'Brien pleaded guilty Tuesday to sending extortionist threats to Mary Alice Dorrance Malone. She'll get six years' probation as part of the plea.

The DUOTHERM heat recovery system from Boge America, Inc. (Powder Springs, GA) is an ideal solution for compressed air users wanting to optimize the energy usage of their existing compressed air system through heat recovery, according to the company. The heat recovery system can recover up to 94 percent of the input energy used in compression in the form of heat.

Oldham (Arras, France), an Industrial Scientific company, introduced the WX Series of gas detection alarm controllers with three models: WX4 (four-channel), WX16 (16-channel), and WX64 (64-channel). Each model is designed for continuous monitoring of its respective number of analog or digital gas measurements.

Fluke Corporation (Everett, WA) has announced the availability of the new TL175 TwistGuard Test Leads, which have a manually-adjustable test tip guard for use in different measurement environments. By twisting the teat lead, the user can change the exposed tip length from 4/25” to 3/4”.

Since we launched the IMPO Insider back in August 2009, I’ve searched the Internet to the end and back for the best videos to feature in our Thursday newsletters. After all of that, I’ve seen some great content across the whole spectrum—funny, sad, uplifting, amusing, frightening.

Most likely encouraged by the increasing amount of media hype around his inventions, Joerg Sprave has developed his most powerful slingshot yet — “The Avalaunche” — that shoots six 20mm steel balls. According to Joerg, each ball carries 60 Joules as it strikes the target, enough to punch through wood or make slurry out of watermelon.

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors Co. says former Chairman and CEO Robert Stempel has died.
The automaker announced Stempel's death in a statement Monday.
The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press report he was 77 and died Saturday in Florida.
Stempel led the company from 1990-92 until he was forced out in a boardroom coup.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Northrop Grumman Corp. on Monday unveiled a new type of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft that can be flown either robotically or with a pilot aboard.
The defense contractor said the Firebird aircraft would allow the military to simultaneously gather real-time high-definition video, view infrared imagery, use radar and eavesdrop on communications.

DETROIT (AP) — Italian automaker Fiat SpA could own more than 70 percent of Chrysler Group within a year once it repays its government loans and exercises other options, Chrysler said Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Fiat may acquire the U.S. Treasury's 8.

TOKYO (AP) — Toyota's global car production, disrupted by parts shortages after Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami, will likely return to normal two to three months earlier than expected, a report said Tuesday.
Japans' top business daily Nikkei said Toyota's output will normalize earlier than the end of this year as parts shortages are easing.